UNCASVILLE, Conn. — With the 15th overall pick in the 2016 WNBA Draft, the Los Angeles Sparks selected FGCU women's basketball player Whitney Knight. As a second-round selection in Thursday night's draft, Knight becomes FGCU's first-ever player drafted to the WNBA.
Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School) is the seventh player from the Atlantic Sun Conference selected in the history of the WNBA draft and now boasts the highest selection among the elite group. She is the first player to be drafted since 2010 and the only player drafted from a current member institution.
"It's an unbelievable feeling to be drafted to the WNBA," said Knight on the historic evening. "This has been my dream since I was a kid and it actually came true tonight. I'm so thankful for my family and my coaches and my teammates. They've all helped me to get to this point and I really couldn't have done it without them. I know there's hard work coming to make the team now but hearing my name called by the LA Sparks was just an amazing moment."
The two-time A-Sun Player of the Year picked up her third-consecutive First Team All-Conference honor this season and was named an Associated Press All-American Honorable Mention.
"We are really proud of Whit," said FGCU head coach Karl Smesko. "Being drafted by a WNBA team is an impressive accomplishment. Whit has a rare combination of skills and I am glad the Sparks took notice."
A year ago, Knight was the nation's only player to lead a conference in blocked shots and 3-pointers made. The 6-3 combination guard led the Eagles to the second round of the NCAA Tournament as a junior and returned the lead the team this season.
After missing the first eight games of the 2015-16 season while battling a foot injury, Knight picked up right where she left off with 16 points and 10 rebounds in a win at Providence on Dec. 12. In her 30 games on the court this season, Knight led all players with 13.2 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Knight scored 10 or more points on 20 occasions with five 20-point performances this season including a season-high 25 at Lipscomb on Jan. 24. The versatile guard also recorded eight double-doubles on the year, including three in the team's WNIT run.
During her senior campaign, Knight shot 34.4 percent from the floor with 83 makes from 3-point range and a 79.4 percent success rate from the free-throw line. Defensively, Knight pulled down 216 rebounds this season with 55 boards in the team's last six games. The senior topped the team and the league with 99 blocks and finished the year ranked 12th nationally, despite playing just 77 percent of the season. Even with the limited playing time, Knight also ranked among the nation's top-35 in 3-pointers made.
In Knight's 30 games on the court, the team went 27-3 with a 21-game win streak and a run to the WNIT Championship final. With Knight, the Eagles outscored opponents by an average of 63.4 to 46.3 points per game and continued their run to national prominence.
Through a five-year career that included a redshirt year due to an ACL injury, Knight set the league's all-time record with 333 career blocks. The mark is also FGCU's all-time record and stands as one of many positions in the program record book.
She finished her career with the Green and Blue with 1,574 points and 735 rebounds to rank second in the FGCU all-time records. The North Carolina native also ranks second in field goals made (523), 3-pointers made (294) and steals (206) to stand as one the program's most well-rounded and decorated athletes.
Knight will join the Sparks Sunday, April 24 for Training Camp. Preseason games begin April 29 with the league's 20th season set to begin Saturday, May 14.
Now in his second year, head coach Brian Agler led the team to a fourth-place finish in the Western Conference last season. The Sparks have made 15 postseason appearances in a 19-year history and still stand as the league's only team to win back-to-back titles after winning the league championship in 2001 and 2002.
LA opens the 2016 season Sunday, May 15 at the Seattle Storm.
A RECORD-SETTING SEASON
FGCU produced one of its most successful seasons in program history at 33-6, with the win total representing the most in Division I program history and falling one shy of the all-time mark. The eight seniors on the roster made two NCAA Tournament appearances and won four-straight A-Sun Regular Season titles. The team stands as FGCU's first DI squad to play in a national title game.
After being edged at South Dakota in the WNIT Championship, FGCU finished the 2016 WNIT with a record of 5-1 and moved to 8-6 in six appearances in the tournament. This season, the team defeated Bethune-Cookman, Tulane, Wake Forest, Hofstra and Michigan at home before traveling to Vermillion the championship. The team earned the league's automatic bid to the WNIT with the regular season championship after compiling its fourth undefeated conference season in five years.
The season concluded as the 12th-straight for FGCU with more than 20 wins. The Eagles have won 30 games in each of the last two seasons and have made nine-straight postseason appearances.
SMESKO
Head coach Karl Smesko earned his sixth-consecutive Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year award with a successful 2015-16 campaign and was named the espnW Mid-Major Coach of the Year. Under his direction, the team has compiled two-straight 30-win seasons with four perfect A-Sun regular-season slates in the last five years. The team earned its first top-25 ranking and a third NCAA Tournament appearance as a seven seed last season where FGCU won its first ever DI NCAA Tournament game against No. 10 Oklahoma State. With 30 wins and counting this year, Smesko has guided the Eagles to 12-straight 20+ win seasons. He maintains a record of 378-73 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.8 with a mark of 145-13 (91.7 W%) in Atlantic Sun contests and has led the team to a 81-1 record in conference play in the last five seasons. The six-time Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year earned his 400th career win last season in just 493 career games, two games faster than UConn's Geno Auriemma, and holds a career record of 439-100 (81.5 W%). Smesko ranks among an elite list of just four active Division I coaches with a career win percentage of .800 or higher, joining Auriemma, Baylor's Kim Mulkey and Stanford's Tara VanDerveer in the esteemed group.
